Business

16 July 2022; MEMO: The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas on Friday slammed the Saudi decision to open its airspace to Israeli flights, Quds Press reported.

"We, Hamas, feel sad following the Saudi decision to open its airspace to the Israeli occupation flights," Hamas spokesperson Jihad Taha disclosed in a statement.

15 July 2022; MEMO: Egypt spends approximately 55 billion Egyptian pounds per year ($2.92 billion) on diesel subsidies, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced yesterday.

Egypt raised the price of diesel on Wednesday by 0.50 pounds to 7.25 pounds per litre following two previous increases in 2021.

15 July 2022; MEMO: Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, more than doubled the amount of Russian fuel oil it imported in the second quarter to feed power stations to meet summer cooling demand and free up the Kingdom's own crude for export, data showed and traders said, Reuters reports.

Russia has been selling fuel at discounted prices after international sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine left it with fewer buyers. Moscow calls the war in Ukraine a "special military operation".

14 July 2022; MEMO: Turkiye, Russia, and Ukraine have agreed on the establishment of a coordination centre in the city of Istanbul to facilitate grain exports from Ukraine to international markets, as the global food crisis looms ever closer.

14 July 2022; MEMO: The Turkish and the United Arab Emirates Space Agencies signed a memorandum of cooperation on the "peaceful use of space, space science, technology and applications, Anadolu News Agency reports.

According to the report, the signing ceremony was attended by Turkish Industry and Technology Minister, Mustafa Varank and his Emirati counterpart, Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, as well as several other high-level officials.

14 July 2022; MEMO: Emirates Airline said, on Thursday, it had rejected demands by London's Heathrow Airport to cut capacity despite being threatened with legal action, and that it would continue to operate to schedule, Reuters reports.

Britain's busiest airport this week asked airlines to stop selling tickets for summer flights, capping the number of daily passengers flying from the hub to 100,000 to ease pressure on operations that have resulted in delayed and cancelled flights.

14 July 2022; MEMO: The president of the BRICS International Forum expects Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia to join the group "very soon". In an interview with Russia's Izvestia, Purnima Anand said that China, Russia and India discussed this issue during the 14th BRICS Summit, which was held online last month.

13 July 2022; MEMO: The President of the United Arab Emirates said, on Wednesday, the Gulf OPEC producer would continue to support global energy security as a main driver of global economic growth, ahead of a US-Arab summit in neighbouring Saudi Arabia this week, Reuters reports.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, in his first televised address since becoming President in May, also said the UAE would extend a "hand of friendship" to all countries that share values of peaceful co-existence and mutual respect.

13 July 2022; MEMO: US President Joe Biden landed at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport on Wednesday at the start of his Middle East tour, Anadolu Agency reports.

Biden was welcomed at the airport by Israeli Prime Minister, Yair Lapid, his deputy Naftali Bennett and President Isaac Herzog, according to The Times of Israel newspaper.

Biden will visit the West Bank as part of his tour, where he will meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

13 July 2022; MEMO: Iran yesterday accused US President Joe Biden of adopting a policy that contradicts his declared desire to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement.

This came following an opinion piece written by Biden for the Washington Post and published on Saturday ahead of his visit to the Middle East this week.